By the time Prince Yan and his men arrived on horseback, the gray-clad men from Beiqu, Pingkangli, had already been withdrawn. The guards and servants searched everywhere, but only found Shen Luo covered in blood in a messy courtyard.
Shen took a step forward, half-knelt down and felt his breath. After feeling a little warmth, he heaved a sigh of relief and murmured, "Still alive..."
Hearing his voice, Shen Luo quickly struggled to open his eyelids, and then tightly held Shen Xiangzhi's hand: "Queen Dowager, they are the Queen Dowager's people, they just withdrew not long ago, chase... chase them quickly!"
"Aque, go and save Aque..." His eyes were red and even his eye sockets were soaked with blood.
But Xie Shiguan leaned over, pinched his jaw, and forced him to look up: "Why did they spare your life?"
The Miao party was always ruthless in their actions. They had already captured Shen Que, so they could have killed this insignificant "bait" with one sword. Why did they have to go to the trouble of leaving Shen Luo alive?
Chen Luo guessed that His Highness might not believe him, so he hurriedly explained: "It was Eleven, he let me go."
He said, panting heavily: "When I was lying on the ground just now, I heard that they seemed to be heading north..."
There was no strange expression on Shen Luo's face or in his eyes, only anxiety and worry. If he hadn't been so badly injured that he couldn't get up, he really wanted to go and look for her himself. There was no falsehood in that look, so Xie Shiguan let go.
A moment later, in front of the palace.
By now the sky was already getting dark, and from afar one could see several carriages parked in front of the palace gate, followed by a number of eunuchs and palace maids, each holding large and small boxes in their arms.
Since all these people in the palace were trying to escape so blatantly, the officials in the capital had naturally heard the news a long time ago. Those who could escape had already left the city with their families. As for the more timid ones, they retreated to the front of the palace upon hearing the news, wanting to follow the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.
The common people in Kyoto were also very cautious. Seeing these important figures abandon the city and flee overnight, they gritted their teeth and packed up their gold and silver jewelry overnight. They were afraid that before dawn tomorrow, Kyoto would become a deserted city.
The reason why those people in the palace were reluctant to leave was that they were waiting for the fish token in Prince Yan's hand. Even if they went south to Nanjing, they could hide for a while, but not for a lifetime. If they did not have any soldiers in their hands, sooner or later they and their son would become fish on the chopping board of others.
But as long as they get the fish token, a group of elite troops will escort them all the way. Those generals who went south to fight against the barbarians will judge the situation and will surely surrender to them.
"When was the last time you gave him medicine?" The Queen Mother reached out to lift the carriage curtain and slowly asked the person outside, "Give him more."
The gray-clothed man outside the compartment quickly responded, "He was stabbed with a knife. The blade was anesthetic, and he hasn't woken up yet."
The Queen Mother said coldly: "Who knows if he is pretending? Xie Ling's people are as heartless as him. You never know if he will jump up and bite you, or send him a knife. If you don't be careful and let him escape, I will skin you alive."
The man in gray nodded immediately: "Yes."
At this moment, Miao Zhaoyi, who was sitting beside her, suddenly asked, "Aunt, why does Jun'er seem to hear the sound of horse hooves?"
The Queen Mother heard this and rolled up the curtain again. In the dim night, she saw a group of people riding horses towards them. She couldn't help but smile: "Here they come."
"Go call Yao'er quickly," she adjusted the phoenix hairpin on her bun, smiled as she lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage, squinting at the horse team that was getting closer and closer, "That mute is really his weak spot."
Several horses galloped towards this place, raising a large cloud of dust. The Queen Mother raised her hand to cover her nose with a slight look of disgust.
But who knew that the King Goose had already ridden his horse right up to them, and showed no intention of stopping. Instead, he seemed to be allowing the horse to run into them.
Miao Zhaoyi panicked, took a half step back, and shouted again: "Auntie!"
Fortunately, at the last moment, the horse driver finally tightened the reins and squeezed the horse's belly hard, and the pair of horse hooves finally stopped in front of the two men.
The man on horseback looked down at the panic on their faces and said with a half-smile, "I'm sorry for your poor riding skills."
The Queen Mother raised her head with lingering fear, and was faced with the face that she hated so much. However, she could not show any weakness at this moment, so she suppressed her heartbeat and laughed: "I thought that His Royal Highness Prince Yan did not want the mute's life and deliberately wanted him to die."
After hearing this, Xie Shiguan did not show any anger on his face, but just asked her: "Where is the person?"
The Queen Mother clapped her hands gently, and immediately a man in gray carried the limp and powerless mute up. A sharp blade was pressed against the side of his neck, pressing tightly against his flesh.
The Queen Mother tried to gauge Xie Shiguan's expression, trying to find a crack in that mask-like smile: "How is it? Did I catch the wrong person?"
Seeing that Xie Shiguan was still calm, the Queen Mother simply looked into his eyes with a smile and deliberately provoked him: "Do you think there are really such monsters in the world? If it weren't for my brother's love, I really wouldn't have had this kind of experience."
Xie Shiguan stared at her coldly and smiled: "It is normal for the emperor's sister-in-law to be more cautious after living in the deep palace for a long time. There is really no need to be so hard on yourself."
"Xie Ling!" In the end, it was the Queen Mother who lost control first. "You were the first to be disloyal and treacherous. You colluded with the foreign Di and deliberately forced everyone into this state. Now that things have turned out like this, who should we blame?"
Xie Yizi, who had been standing among the concubines, was stunned when he heard these words. He had never thought that all this might be a trap set for him by the emperor's uncle.
Xie Shiguan did not deny it, and his smile faded: "What do you want?"
The situation was urgent, and the Queen Mother had no intention of fighting him anymore. She said straight to the point, "Since you have the ability to lure the Northern Barbarian Wolf Riders in, you must have already figured out a way to escape. I want to borrow the fish talisman in your hand, and I want you to tell me the way to escape."
"What else?"
The Queen Mother was stunned for a moment, as if she had not expected him to be so straightforward: "Are you willing to do both of those things?"
Xie Shiguan smiled at her, and then Ying Chengen, who was serving Xie Yi, suddenly took out a dagger from somewhere and put it to the little emperor's neck unexpectedly.
Xie Yizhi was so frightened that he immediately screamed, "Mother, mother!"
But the Queen Mother didn't even look at him. Even if Xie Yizhi was gone, she still had a little grandson. It would be the same no matter who was the emperor.
"Stop shouting," the Queen Mother interrupted his panicked shouting coldly, "Isn't it embarrassing?"
Xie Yizhi was so scared that he almost cried. Seeing that asking the Queen Mother for help was useless, he turned his pleading eyes to Xie Shiguan on horseback: "Uncle, please let me go. I'll let you take the throne. I just want to stay alive. Shen Que's matter has nothing to do with me. From the beginning to the end, they never let me interfere..."
But Xie Shiguan didn't even look at him. He just stared into the Queen Mother's eyes, as if to advise her: "If you run now, you still have time."
"Give me back the dumb one."
The Queen Mother laughed, "It's you who should be afraid. Even though Yao'er is gone, I still have the grandson in Jun'er's belly! How dare you talk to me in this tone?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as she finished speaking, Miao Zhaoyi beside her suddenly covered her stomach, bent down with a distorted face, and spit out black blood all over the floor.
She slumped on the ground, pressing her hands on her belly, and said in a hoarse voice: "Aunt, my stomach hurts so much..."
"Save me, Aunt, save me..."
"What?" The smile on the queen's face froze, "When?"
Yes, since Prince Yan was able to plant Ying Cheng'en as a chess piece in the palace, then it would certainly not be difficult for him to poison Miao Zhaoyi's food without her noticing.
Xie Shiguan glared at her coldly: "I don't know when the Northern Barbarian Wolf Riders will attack Kyoto, but I'm not in a hurry."
King Yan was not in a hurry, but they were. If they were a step late and were caught by the Northern Barbarian Wolf Riders, they would not be able to escape and would even die in a very ugly way.
So the Queen Mother hardened her heart and decisively gave up her fallen niece and the so-called grandson of the dragon, and turned her attention to Xie Yizi. Now she had no other choice but to signal the two men in gray to bring Shen Que over.
"I will count to three. Both sides will drop their knives," the Queen Mother stared at the man on horseback. "Xie Ling, you should keep your word. He is your nephew!"
Xie Shi looked at Shen Que who was getting closer and closer to him: "That's natural."
"three--"
"two--"
The Queen Mother gritted her teeth and said angrily: "One."
Two sharp blades fell with a sound, and almost at the same time, Xie Shiguan rode his horse forward, bent his body, and grabbed Chen Que on the horse's back. Then he turned the horse's head and retreated while speaking something to the guards behind him.
"Shoot," he said casually, "kill without mercy."
"Xie Ling! You will not die well!" the noble lady yelled behind him, "You will not die well!"
He didn't want to kill Xie Yizhi personally. After all, this emperor was helped to the throne by him and Man Changshan himself. Even if he was not sincere, he had taught him for so many years.
Behind him were the panicked screams of the palace concubines and eunuchs. Xie Yizi's screams were mixed in and were almost drowned out in an instant.
Xie Shiguan reached out and stroked the mute's hair. It still felt so smooth and soft. He then reached out to his neck and felt his pulse beating steadily. He looked at it carefully and saw a very shallow knife scar on his neck. There was a line of blood, but it was not serious.
There were two knife wounds on the forearm, one of which slightly exposed the bone and blood was still dripping down.
His Highness immediately frowned, pulled out his silk scarf, and hastily bandaged the wound for him.
At this moment, Xie Shiguan seemed to hear someone calling his name behind him.
When these people are dying, they can't help but utter cruel words, such as "I won't let you go even if I become a ghost" and "Just you wait". Unfortunately, he has heard many vicious curses, but he still hardly has nightmares at night and sleeps well, which shows that evil curses are useless.
Only when he heard the faint voice of "Imperial Uncle" did Xie Shiguan's movements pause slightly. He slowly turned his horse's head and stared at the tragic scene in front of the palace.
The corpses were scattered all over the ground, and with just a glance, he couldn't find Xie Yizhi at all.
But Xie Shiguan still smiled and said, "Why are you calling me?"
"You should call me Master."
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